In 1095 A.D., Pope Urban II gave his speech at the Council of Clermont in France, which inspired Christians to take up arms. His speech would prove to be an inspiration that rallied Christians to go on pilgrimage and fight for the Holy Land. Fulcher of Chartres wrote that during Pope Urban’s speech he asked people of all class, from the poor to the noble, to aid in defeating the Muslims.[1] Monk-knight societies were created in response to his call.
The
Order of Poor Knights of the Temple of Solomon, or the Knights Templar, was one
of the first to form in response to Pope Urban II. The original founders
were two French knights, named Hugues de Payens and Godfrey de Saint-Omer. The
two sought to protect the pilgrims on their journey to locations of divine
significance. Matthew Paris’ manuscript, Chronica Majora,
mentioned, “At first they were so poor, although they were energetic, that they
had only one war horse between the two. In memory of their primitive poverty
and their observance of humility, on their seal is engraved two riding one
horse.”[2] Several others
joined the order, soon after, bringing their numbers to nine.The order was recognize by several popes and other noble persons throughout its existence. In 1128 A.D., the order was officially recognized by St. Bernard of Clairvaux. According to St. Bernard In Praise of the New Knighthood, “This is, I say, a new kind of knighthood and one unknown to the ages gone by. It ceaselessly wages a twofold war both against flesh and blood and against a spiritual army of evil in the heavens.”[3] In this same year a council was held at Troyes, France issuing them white garb.[4] Later, a symbol still recognizable as the Knights Templar’s was issued, the red cross. After the recognition people flocked to join the order in their holy quest.
The knights were required to swear an oath during a secret ceremony. William of Tyre in The Foundation of the Order of the Knights Templar explained, “They promised to live in perpetuity as regular canons without possessions, under vows of chastity and obedience.”[5] Along with these vows, the knights were required to serve in two ways. First, they served as monks keeping the Christian laws. Secondly, they were knights; fighting to take back Jerusalem and destroy the infidel army.
Not every man who wished to join the order could do so. Membership to the order was only granted to those who met specific requirements. The initiates were required to have knight training and be of legitimate birth. In 1139 A.D., Pope Innocent declared, “Be also aware that, as your holy institution and religious knighthood has been established by divine providence, it is not at all fitting for you to relocate to any other place under the pretext of a more religious life, because God who is indeed unchangeable and eternal, does not approve inconstant hearts…”[6] Once the knights became members they were not allowed to return to normal life.
There were those that were considered affiliates of the order. They were persons who worked with members of the order, but did not act as clergy, knights, or servants. Thomas Keightley stated, “The affiliated were persons of various ranks in society, and of both sexes, who, without giving up their secular mode of life, or wearing any peculiar habit, joined the order, with a view to the advantages, both spiritual and temporal, which they expected to derive from it.”[7] As affiliates, they participated in mass and worked on the Templar lands. They were also given the protection of the order.
In order to become an affiliate a person must do several things. Thomas Keightley emphasized, “This ambitious and covetous order required that he who sought the honor of affiliation with them should, besides taking the three vows, pledge himself to lead a reputable life, to further the interests of the order to the best of his power, and leave it the entire of his property at his death.”[8] The affiliates were also allowed to be married. These differences from the knights allowed the affiliates to live both a secular life and a pious life.
The Templar influence on laity did not stop with their affiliates. Their influence continued into the secular world in several different areas. As their wealth and power grew, the Templars had an influence in almost every area of life. People of all classes would have been influenced by the Knights Templars, since their members worked in many different trades. There were butchers, smiths, priests, and many other positions held by Templar members. As knights, their skills were also employed in other areas.
The First Crusade began, in 1096 A.D., following Pope Urban II’s call to aid Holy Land and the knights made their way to Jerusalem. The Knights Templar took up residence in Jerusalem at the Temple Mount in 1118 A.D., which was significant to Christians, Muslims, and Jews. William of Tyre claimed, “Their primary duty, one of which was enjoined upon them by the Lord Patriarch [Warmund] and the other bishops for the remission of sins, was that of protecting the roads and route against the attack of robbers and brigands. This they did especially in order to safeguard the pilgrims.”[9] Muslims slaughtered many of these pilgrims, while they were en-route to holy locations.
With the increase in the number of members, the Pope began assigning them larger roles in the Holy War. The knights were employed by the Pope to carry out his holy orders and fight the infidel armies. St. Bernard of Clairvaux stated, “No matter how outnumbered they are, they never regard these as fierce barbarians or as awe-inspiring hordes. Nor do they presume their own strength, but trust in the Lord of armies to grant them victory.”[10] The knights were also employed to accompany kings on their journeys to the Holy Land.
In 1147 A.D., the knights were sent on another task by Pope Eugene III, to aid the king of France. According to Thomas Keightley in Secret Societies of the Middle Ages, “The newly-elected master of the Temple, Everard des Barres [sic], and 130 knights, accompanied the king [Louis VII] on his march for the Holy Land; and their valor [sic] and their skill greatly contributed towards the preservation of the crusading army in their unfortunate march through Lesser Asia.”[11] Along with escorting of kings and peasants, the knights fought against and laid siege on cites once taken by Muslims in order to retake them.
There are several instances of which a knight, or knights, showed their valiance and unwavering faith. In 1187 A.D., the Templars fought Sultan Saladin’s army at the Horns of Hattin, Israel. Thomas Keightley reported, “At the fatal battle of Hattin [sic], where 30,000 Christians lost their lives…Many who belonged not to the orders, smit with desire for the glory of martyrdom, cast the mantles of Templars around them, and went cheerfully to death as such.”[12] Even in death, the Templars instilled courage in the hearts of those around them.
In 1236 A.D., during the Battle at Darbsak against the Sultan of Aleppo, Imad ad-Din Zengi, a knight fell. Matthew Paris noted:
There fell in that unfortunate struggle an illustrious
Knights Templar, of English nationality. Reginald of Argentan whom that most
bloody day the task of baring the banner which is called “Beauseant” [sic] had
been committed on account of his singular prowess. He bore it untiringly until
with his horse maimed and his arms severed, and drilled with many other wounds
he fell covered in blood and thus commended his spirit to God.[13]
Many
people would view these acts of war against the Muslims as impiety. St. Bernard
of Clairvaux argued, “The knight of Christ, I say, may strike with confidence
and die yet more confidently, for he serves Christ when he strikes, and serves
himself when he falls. Neither does he bear the sword in vain, for he is God’s
minister, for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of the good. If he
kills an evildoer, he is not a man killer [sic], but, if I may so put it, a
killer of evil.”[14]
St. Bernard may have indicated that their acts of war were pious, but not all
of them could be justified as the will of God.During their existence, many have questioned the actions of the Knights Templars, on several occasions. The Templars and the Hospitallers, another order of monk-knights, became rivals. Thomas Keightley wrote, “The Templars were in alliance with the Prince of Damascus: the Hospitallers were the friends of the sultan of Egypt [Al-Kamil].”[15] The rivalry between the two monastic orders only increase over time.
In 1241 A. D., the Templars drew extreme measures against the Hospitallers. Matthew Paris confirmed, “The Templars carried their attack so far that they besieged the Hospitaller’s house in Acre [a city in Israel] and did not allow them to collect food, nor even to carry their dead out to burial from their houses which they were besieged.”[16] They also took actions against the order of the Tuetonic Knights. The Hopsitallers sought revenge as a result of the Templar’s actions.
They paid the price, in 1259 A.D., after the Hopsitallers slaughtered a Templar army. The Templars had changed from pious monk-knights into killers of fellow Christians. The conflict only proved to tarnish the name of the holy order. The actions against the Hospitallers by the Templars created such an uncertainty among the people. Matthew Paris further reported, “They used to be legitimate defenders of the Church but then became destroyers of it and of peace, and even became its cruel exterminators.”[17] The impious acts did not stop there, but extended to other areas.
The Knights Templar developed a banking system to aid the travelers during pilgrimage. Thomas Keightley pointed out, “It was now very much the custom for monarch’s to deposit their treasures in the Temple house…”[18] The Templar commanderies acted as a bank where their money and valuables would be kept safe, until their return. In the process, the Templars were also able to charge a rate, which worked around the prohibition of taxation.
The Templars had established temples in almost every kingdom in Christendom,[19] and were able to collect money in each. Matthew Paris suggested, “The Templars have nine thousand manors in Christendom…plus emoluments and various profits from confraternity income from preaching and gains from their privileges.”[20] Their wealth and numbers continued to increase through these avenues. Their downfall was the result of their greed.The Knights Templar laid siege on the city of Ascalon, on the coast of Israel, in 1153 A.D. When the knights successfully produced a hole in the city’s wall the knights showed their greed. Thomas Keightley reported:
The army
was preparing to enter at this opening when Bernard de Tremelay [sic], the
Master of the Temple, taking his station at it with his knights, refused all
ingress. It was the law of war in those days, among the crusaders, that
whatever house or spoils any one took when a town was stormed, became his
property. The Templars, therefore, were eager to have first choice; and having
kept off all-others, Tremelay [sic], with forty of his knights, boldly entered
a strongly-garrisoned town. But they paid the penalty of their rashness and
cupidity; for the garrison surrounded and slew them all, and then closed up the
breach.[21]
Pope
Innocent II’s Papal Bull, in 1139 A.D., could possibly justify their actions in
Ascalon, Israel. Pope Innocent II stated in Omne Datum Optimum,
“As for the things that you receive from the spoils, you can confidently put
them to your own use, and we prohibit that you coerced against your will to
give anyone a portion of these.”[22]
The Templars found ways, other than the spoils of war, to gain vast amounts of
wealth. They created the first banking system that encompassed most of Europe
by the aid of the pilgrimage.At the end of the Crusades, the Knights Templars found their influence becoming weaker over much of Christendom. In 1291 A.D., the city of Acre, Israel fell out of crusader control when it was attacked by the Muslim army. Thomas Keightley mentioned that the Templars that escaped the siege were forced to take refuge in Cyprus.[23] They remained there for a number of years, until King Philip IV sought to remove the Templars to avoid paying his debt to them.
On February 13th 1307 A.D., Pope Clement V and King Philip IV had the Templars arrested. Thomas Keightley noted, “They became the victims of the unprincipled rapacity of a merciless prince; their property seized and confiscated; their noblest members perished in flames; their memory was traduced and maligned; the foulest crimes were laid to their charge; and a secret doctrine, subversive of the social tranquility and national independence, was asserted to have animated their councils.”[24] What remaining knights had escaped capture disappeared for fear that they would also be killed. The powerful order of the Knights Templar was at an end.
Throughout the rise and fall of the Knights Templar, they did many positive things for Christendom. They fought valiantly to protect pilgrims, kings, and noble men. The Templars died for the Church and the Holy Land. They helped establish a banking system that aided people of all classes. They provided mass, work, goods, and services for laity.
The Knights Templar had risen from two poor knights to a powerful order that stretched across Europe. This is the vision people get when they think of knights of the Middle Ages. Thomas Keightley observed, “Romancers, and those who write history as if it were romance, exert all their power to keep up the illusion…of waving plumes, gaudy surcoats, emblazoned shield, with lady’s love, knightly honor, and courteous feats of arms.”[25] The knights may have had instances of courage and valor, but they also had temptations and were surrounded by corruption.
The Templars were also capable of horrible acts. They were often found to be treacherous and greedy. They fought not only against the Muslims, but fellow Christians as well. The feud with the Hospitallers is a definitive example of this. The Templars used their power to take advantage of pilgrims in order to gain wealth. Their deeds were all done under the illusion of righteousness.
The Popes, during the Crusades, may have found ways to justify the reasons for the actions of the Templars, but it did not hide that they were not as holy as they seemed. What had started as a pious, chaste, and poor order grew into an order of villains. In ways the Knights Templar helped to benefit Christendom with their positive influence, but in other way they injured those around them. The Templars created the events which led to their own downfall. With their arrest and dissemination of the remaining members, Christendom was left defenseless against the Muslim invasion.
The order of the monk-knights proved to impact many different areas of life during the Crusades. They played a part in the development of banking in Europe. Their corruption in battle and banking led to their downfall. They aided people of all classes and in every country in Christendom. The Knights Templar had a positive and negative effect on Christendom both during and after their existence.
ENDNOTES
[2] Matthew Paris, Chronica Majora, trans. Helen J. Nicholson, edited by H. R. Luard, Global Folio, accessed June 26, 2013, http://globalfolio.net/monsalvat/frglorios/ricarstvol/tampl_matthew_paris.htm
[3] St. Bernard of Clairvaux, In Praise of the New Knighthood, The Orb, accessed June 21, 2013, http://www.the-orb.net/encyclop/religion/monastic/bernard.html
[4] William of Tyre, “The Foundation of the Order of Knights Templar,” Medieval Sourcebook, accessed July 17, 2013, httyp://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/tyre-templars.asp
[5] Ibid.
[6] Pope Innocent II, Omne Datum Optimum, March 29, 1139, accessed July 12, 2013, http://knightstemplarvault.com/omne-datum-optimum-papal-bull-of-privileges-to-the-knights-templar/
[7] Thomas Keightley, Secret Societies of the Middle Ages, (London: Charles Knight, 1837), 239.
[8] Ibid., 240.
[9] William of Tyre, “The Foundation.”
[10] St. Bernard of Clairvaux, In Praise of the New Knighthood.
[11] Keightley, Secret Societies, 204.
[12] Ibid., 211-212.
[13] Paris, Chronica Majora.
[14] St. Bernard of Clairvaux, In Praise of the New Knighthood.
[15] Keightley, Secret Societies, 217.
[16] Paris, Chronica Majora.
[17] Ibid.
[18] Keightley, Secret Societies, 214.
[19] William of Tyre, “The Foundation.”
[20] Paris, Chronica Majora.
[21] Keightley, Secret Societies, 205.
[22] Pope Innocent II, Omne Datum Optimum, March 29, 1139, accessed July 12, 2013, http://knightstemplarvault.com/omne-datum-optimum-papal-bull-of-privileges-to-the-knights-templar/
[23] Keightley, Secret Societies, 220.
[24] Ibid., 170.
[25] Ibid., 171.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Fulcher of Chartres. “Speech at Council of Clermont, 1095.” Medieval Sourcebook. Last modified March 1996. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/urban2-fulcher.htmlKeightley, Thomas. Secret Societies of the Middle Ages. London: Charles Knight, 1837.
Paris, Matthew. Chronica Majora. Translated by Helen J. Nicholson. Edited by H. R. Luard. Global Folio. Accessed June 26, 2013. http://globalfolio.net/monsalvat/frglorios/ricarstvo1/tampl_matthew_paris.htm
Pope Innocent II. Omne Datum Optimum. March 29, 1139. Accessed July 12, 2013. http://knightstemplarvault.com/omne-datum-optimum-papal-bull-of-privileges-to-the-knights-templar/
St. Bernard of Clairvaux. In Praise of the New Knighthood. The Orb. Accessed June 21, 2013. http://www.the-orb.net/encyclop/religion/monastic/bernard.html
William of Tyre, “The Foundation of the Order of Knights Templar.” Medieval Sourcebook. Accessed July 17, 2013. http://www.fordham.edu/Halsall/source/tyre-templars.asp
